[Twilight] Power 19

[J Tolson]

Twlight (full name: Twilight of the Gods) is a game I've been working on for several years now. Figured it was about time I actually got around to written up a Power 19. It has already been useful to me in formalizing some half-vague ideas.

1) What is your game about?

Twilight is about the old (and new, player created) pantheons of gods and their stories. It is about creating a shared "mythology" that is heroic in nature. It is about collective story telling and inspiring themes. It is about world creation and growth.

2) What do characters do?

The characters are the gods themselves. They watch over their worshippers/followers, attempt to gain more followers, pursue their own desires, defend their domain, and prepare for the end of all that is (aka, the twilight of the gods). This entails satisfying the prayers of the followers and protecting them from foreign influences (invading armies, "new gods," etc), doing heroic deeds worthy of telling by a campfire, and choosing either to reject or embrace fate.

3) What do players do?

Players primarily control their deity; however, they also have control over any associated minions, which act as secondary characters (such as Hugin and Munin, if the character were Odin, Mjolnir for Thor, or Herakles for Zeus), and they share collective control over their believers. They also have some control over the story in general.

A GM is recommended for the story but not required (rule variants are offered for GM-less play). This individual (or team) takes on the role of "Fate," that which has been preordained (specifically, at the start of the game, during or even before character creation). As Fate, the GM attempts to move the story towards the end of the world (the twilight of the gods). This is done my meeting specific criteria of "plot points" that the entire group determines and negotiates before play begins. For example, the end of the world can not occur until pre-established plot points like "Thor gets the hammer, mjolnir" or "the midgard serpent must be born" are first reached. These plot points are essentially adventures in themselves.

4) How does your setting reinforce what your game is about?

The setting is mostly vague; it is mythological in nature and can include any and all pre-existing mythologies (that is, in the same world Norse gods might get it on with Egyptian goddesses and produce children that the Aztecs would worship). The setting is not earth specific, though it is earth-like. The cosmology itself is largely left open to players to create (if it exists on the back of a turtle, in the branches of the World Tree, etc)

This makes room for players to create their own pantheons while still interacting with classical myths and gods. As the game is about creating myths, and myths often involve why something is, the vague setting provides a malleable slate for the players to work with and build up anew for each "campaign."

5) How does the Character Creation of your game reinforce what your game is about?

Character creation starts the players thinks about what is important to them as they consider how their character will relate to the world around them (every deity is a god of something; thus by determining that a character is a god of flowers, the player should already have some vague ideas of what will concern that god and in what ways). This also requires tactical thinking, which plays significantly into Conflict Resolution, as character creation necessitates specialization (very few gods are good at everything). This also starts the dialogue between members of the group as to what the story will vaguely look like as players negotiate with the GM as to how fate, for their character, will be fulfilled, and as they negotiate with other players as to how the community of their worshippers will look. The overarching plot points that lead to the Twilight of the Gods is also established (all plot points can be renegotiated, added, or subtracted during game play, however).

6) What types of behaviors/styles of play does your game reward or punish?

Cooperation is rewarded, as all characters draw power from a common pool (their worshipers) and all characters are weak in critical areas (and have strengths in turn); it is only by working together that they create a functioning whole that prospers.

Storytelling is rewarded as the responsibility is shared among all players (though if there is a GM the load is heavier on them).

Epic role-playing (as in "stabbing an orc with an arrow then shooting another orc with the same arrow" or "surfing down stairs on a shield while firing off arrows with deadly aim") is also rewarded.

Hack and Slash is punished only to the extent that Twilight does not focus on it. One must wade through a lot of cooperation, storytelling, and epic role-playing to get to straight-up hacking and slashing.

7) How are behaviors and styles of play rewarded or punished in your game?

Cooperation is rewarded by increasing the common pool that the players draw their character's power from. Helping another player obtain their goal rewards everyone with more potential power.

Storytelling is rewarded as each player has the power to direct the story towards plot elements that interest him or her. This is further rewarded when characters satisfy pre-established plot points, which either results in the character gaining power or the player gaining more power over the story.

Epic role-playing is rewarded with an increase in character power (specifically, in attracting more followers), while mundane role-playing is "punished" as fewer followers are attracted (if any). Succeeding at a goal in a mundane way can result in no real change to a character's power (or worse, loosing some power), yet even failing at a goal in a truly spectacular way can improve a character.

How are the responsibilities of narration and credibility divided in your game?

Each player controls their own character, and thus providing the narration for those deities. The general story itself is established through negotiations at character creation, providing an agreed upon framework for how things are to happen. Each player adds to the narration of events, though the degree that this occurs depends on if there is a GM (the GM has primary control over the story in that case) and the individual players power (by satisfying specific plot points, a player can gain more control over the story). It is in the interest of the players to create difficulties for themselves to overcome, as mundane stories are not rewarded, yet it is also in the interest of the players to create difficulties within their ability to deal with (gods can die).

9) What does your game do to command the player's attention, engagement, and participation?

Each character, at the moment of creation, is assigned a time to die (at the twilight of the gods) and a manner in which to die, as well as specific points along their life (fate). The players (and their characters) will face their fate; they must decide if they wish to embrace it or reject it. If they embrace it, they will work to ensure that they are "man enough" (or god enough, I suppose) to deal with what fate has given them. It is a test of the heroic character; proudly walking into certain death. If, on the other hand, they choose to reject fate they must work diligently in order to overcome it. Rejecting fate makes one more susceptible to death but it also provides more control over reality (the player can grab control of the narrative more often, dictate Conflict Resolution outcomes, and even break a part of fate itself).

Players also have an interest in seeing their god develop as well as seeing their followers develop. It is a question of if the worshippers of the character's pantheon will fade into mists of time or if they will grow mighty and influence the world itself.

Players also have an invested interest in the lives of their minions. It might be a small matter if Hugin lives or dies, but players will (ideally) form attachments to more human minions, such as Sigmund or Herakles.

Conflict Resolution also depends on resource management, necessitating that a successful player keep on eye on his or her own resources as well as the resources of others and plan accordingly.

10) What are the resolution mechanics of your game like?

Resolution mechanics come into play when a god must exert himself. That which requires exertion from weak god may be assumed for a strong one. A god must also exert himself when opposed by another force (such as a monster, fate, or another god). This is resolved by simply comparing the energy exerted to the energy needed by the obstacle (such as shaping a mountain into a hammer that can break the dome of heaven) or the energy exerted by the opposing force. Whichever energy amount is numerically higher succeeds. The degree by which it exceeds the opposing force determines how well it succeeds.

The energy put into an action is based on three things: a god's ability (a known constant), effort (a limited resource), and luck (a variable that can be either minor or major, depending on the god). As such, a god of stone carving could still fail at chiseling a statue if he put no effort into it while a god of bumbling might succeed if he tried hard enough. Similarly, luck alone could allow poor effort to produce a masterwork, it also could mean that god of crafting could still fail even if he put all the effort in the world into something.

A god's ability is based on what "skills" he has taken, the pool that he can draw energy from is based on his worshippers, and luck is based on a stat (it is possible for a god to have no luck or a lot of luck that is good or bad, or even just a little luck that is always good, etc). Luck is determined by a roll of the dice. With the right ability, these can be exploding dice (that is, the player can keep rolling them again and again for more of an effect under the right circumstances). This allows players a lot of choice over how random chance influences their actions.

Alternately, a player with a particular degree of power over the storyline can change fate after the fact, decreeing that an action succeeded or failed even if the resolution mechanics imply otherwise.

11) How do the resolution mechanics reinforce what your game is about?

It forces players to consider if their action is truly important (important enough to waste energy on), how committed they are to their ideals (how much energy to sink into it), and how desperate they are for an outcome (will they trust luck to make up for lack of ability and effort?)

The mechanics are "energy" based in order to help stress that the gods are divine; the only time they really need to worry about if they will succeed or not is when they must exert their power as a god (Hermes doesn't have to worry about tripping, but he might have to worry about getting to Olympus quickly enough to give Zeus important news).

Additionally, the mechanics allow for dedicated "storytelling" to supersede almost anything else, for thematic purposes. This places an emphasis on storytelling.

12) Do characters in your game advance? If so, how?

Yes, they advance. By performing epic actions and meeting plot points and personal goals, the fame of a particular god (and the pantheon of gods in general) increases, attracting more followers. Followers themselves are essentially (imaginary) physical manifestations of the old concept of experience; the more followers a god has, the more powerful they are. Power is specifically increased by "buying" traits with followers. More followers means that a god can become stronger, or smarter, or able to manipulate lightning. More followers also means that a god has more energy to put into an action.

Additionally, all gods start out the game with one "artifice," a (imaginary) physical object that is the symbol of that god but that also contains power in its own right. Thor's hammer, Zeus' lightning bolt, etc. A god can "buy" traits for their artifice instead of for himself. This is at a "cheaper rate" but it comes with the draw back that the artifice can be lost, stolen, destroyed, etc.

Through game play, when characters meet pre-established plot points, they can gain additional artifices. These can be objects or minions (which are essentially treated as the same thing, mechanics wise). Conversely, through game play, a character can sacrifice a potential artifice for more control over the story.

Traits can also be "bought" for the worshiping population that can help them expand (resulting in more worshipers total), resist invasion, or generate more energy for the god to apply towards an action as effort. As worshippers are represented in-game as physical things, they can be lost (the simplest method is by killing them). This results in a god becoming weaker.

13) How does character advancement reinforce what your game is about?

Advancement is dependent on gaining followers, followers are gained by performing epic actions. As such, character advancement reinforces the epic role-playing aspect of the game. As advancement is drawn from a central pool (worshippers) it also encourages some degree of cooperation (when one player succeeds, everyone succeeds). Additionally, the choice between developing a god or developing an artifices requires strategic decision making, and indeed the option of sacrificing an artifices for story control itself posses a curious choice; storytelling is the player's power, not the characters, so it is possible to sacrifice too much power, to get too much control over the story, only to have the character stagnate and fail despite that control over the story (that power can only go so far).

14) What sort of product or effect do you want your game to produce in or for the players?

I want the game to produce a shared "mythology" for the players; stories that they might relate to each other at a later date. These stories will (ideally) be heroic in nature and deal with how individuals might behave when faced with fate.

I also want playing this to be a fun, rewarding experience in itself.

Finally, I would like for this game to create a pantheon and world that the group of players could then take and apply to other games (playing D&D with a cleric that worships a god you created in a world that you helped form, for example).

15) What areas of your game receive extra attention and color and why?

The various traits and whatnots that specifically make up a god receive extra attention as that is where most players will spend a good deal of time (not necessarily in character creation, but a player has the most contact with his or her own deity).

The concept of Fate and how if influences the story also receives extra attention, as it provides a framework for storytelling.

The conflict resolution system, because I really like the dichotomy.

The worshippers and how they interact with the world will need extra attention, but I am still working on that. This need is because it adds a resource management element that is not present in many other rpgs to the same extent and as such may be particularly daunting to new players.

16) Which part of your game are you most excited about or interested in? Why?

The part with gods. The game itself is the result of my love of mythology and a desire to represent it in a role-playing system.

Conversely, the part that I am least excited about is the number crunch necessary to make sure that the arbitrary numbers that I've assigned to represent "reality" produce agreeable results.

17) Where does your game take players that other games can't, don't, or won't?

Twilight allows players to take on the role of gods without breaking the rules. It allows players to create their own world and mythology, something that usually only GMs get to do. It also introduces players to mythology (if they haven't been formally introduced). As such, it is almost educational.

18) What are your publishing goals for your game?

Publish-what-now? Twilight of the Gods is a hobby first and foremost. Once I get it done I want to offer it free online (though possibly with way to donate if you like it, to help pay for bandwidth). If people like it enough and if I keep improving it after the fact, I might try to produce a higher quality product to sell as a PDF or POD. If I can find a group of people to play this game with, I'll be happy. If other people like it and play it, I will be utterly thrilled. Seems almost greedy to ask for money on top of that.

19) Who is your target audience?

My target audience is me. Alternately, people who like mythologies and rpgs. Specifically, people who like mythologies, rpgs, storytelling, and have friends to play the game with.

~Joel

[johntfrazer]

A twentieth question you might want to think about: Why should I play this instead of Scion?

I'm not asking to be snarky and dismissive, but because there is a certain overlap of themes. The main differences I could see from your post are the task resolution and playing up the followers element. So let me ask you two questions:

Will your mechanics offer the players a real feeling of power? After all, the emphasis on storytelling could give the divine abilities a certain arbitrary feel.

What about dealing with followers will be enjoyable or interesting? "Gods need the worship of followers" is a pretty common rpg trope, but if that's not the case, why do the gods want followers? How can the followers be used. What about your mechanics allows the players to feel a reflected version of the satisfaction their characters must get from exploiting/helping their followers. (And this is a general concern rather than a specific criticism - I've found that most game systems do a pretty poor job with characters of political/religious power. How is yours different?)

[J Tolson]

Thank you for taking the time to look this over, John.

As for why you should play this instead of Scion, I honestly couldn't tell you; this was the first I had heard of it. My earliest drafts of Twilight go back to 2002 (as a standalone game, 2003), so this isn't a question I've encountered before (Scion came out in 2007, correct?)

But not knowing something has never stopped me before, so I've looked over the reviews, previews, and basically anything I could find about the game. Just going from those, it appears that Twilight offers a few things that Scion doesn't that would provide for substantially different game play. For one, Scion has a specific setting (the modern world), whereas Twilight is more open ended in that regard. Twilight allows players to take a god from the creation of the world (indeed, the players can create the world themselves), through its lifespan, and into Ragnarok (and possible through it). Thus, on the surface it appears that any story that could be told in Scion could also be told in Twilight, not all stories that could be told in Twilight can also be translated into Scion.

Twilight also offers a greater degree of what might be called "authenticity." I don't add anything to mythologies in order to force them to fit into a specific setting. As such, players can play Thor as he is in the Poetic Edda, or Zeus as he is in the Iliad. It is like offering a geek the chance to own the original Star Wars trilogy without any of the modifications that have been done to it over the years.

As for offering the players a feeling of real power, I hope so. Specifically, the feeling of power that I expect player will feel is similar to the feeling of power that a GM gets when designing a world/adventure for any other game. This is translated in-game through some degree of player control over the narration and also through the extent to which a god's power can effect the world around it. As mentioned, characters can participate in the creation of the world itself (creating rivers, setting mountains, deciding if it is flat, donut-shaped, a sphere, or something else entirely, etc).

However, there is also a little feeling of powerlessness. All the gods are bound to Fate (a pre-determined series of events that will eventually lead to their deaths).

As for dealing with followers, I hope that it will be enjoyable for the same reason that people like playing games like The Sims or Civilization; the satisfaction of seeing something small and insignificant grow into something truly great. Pride, then, would be a motivating emotion.

Mechanic-wise, part of what I hope will be enjoyable again relates to the GM-power-trip of world creation; the gods get to determine what their worshipper's culture looks like. Animal (or human) sacrifices, an established priesthood, god-kings, organized religion, etc can all be traits that players choose for their worshippers. These traits can benefit the gods directly (human sacrifice offers a rather nice energy boost), but they can also cause averse effects (decrease in worshiper base, increased difficulty in obtaining converts). Ideally, distinct cultural personalities will also emerge; worshippers are almost like one large NPC that everyone gets to control a little. They aren't always friendly; they often have interests that aren't to your benefit, etc.

Hopefully that answered your questions to some extent. Please let me know if not, if I forgot to address one, or if you'd like more information on something (or if you have any other thoughts on the matter, which I do value). I will continue to ponder these questions and might come back with a different answer once I've had some time to consider more deeply how those issues are being reinforced (or ignored) by game mechanics.

Thanks again for the response.

~Joel

[Troy_Costisick]

Heya Joel,

You did a great job answering the Power 19.  I have a few follow-up questions for you since I find your game pretty interesting.  I hope you get the chance to answer them.

-Sounds like this should be a competitive game.  Have you considered pitting the players against each and developing cost charts or formulas for purchasing monsters and obstacles?

-How does the game end exactly?  What's it like?

-What are the specific, possible outcomes for the characters and for the players?  What will the players and characters get out of the endgame you have created for your game?

-What drive the players towards the plot points?  Is it all GM direction?

-It doesn't seem like there is much incentive to embrace one's fate.  Is there any?  Have you considered how to make that a more attractive choice?

-Who sets the amounts of energy needed to overcome an obstacle?

It forces players to consider if their action is truly important (important enough to waste energy on), how committed they are to their ideals (how much energy to sink into it), and how desperate they are for an outcome (will they trust luck to make up for lack of ability and effort?)

-I like this answer a lot.

-What happens to the followers when a god uses them to buy traits and artifice?

-What happens when the communal pool is empty?  Does it ever get empty?

Peace,

-Troy

[J Tolson]

Thanks for the feedback Troy and for finding the game interesting.

-Sounds like this should be a competitive game.  Have you considered pitting the players against each and developing cost charts or formulas for purchasing monsters and obstacles?

I've generally tried to shy away from putting the players in a position to directly compete with each other. Twilight allows for players to take a fairly powerful hold on the story and direct things (changing the result of Conflict Resolution, for example), so I am afraid of situations arising, resulting from competitive play, in which one player would use that degree of power against the others. That is my fear, anyway. But competition does add a very nice spice to the game, even if it is something as small as who gets a better initiative.

Purchasing monsters and obstacles sounds like a wonderful idea... but perhaps instead of purchasing players would be paid for them (or is this what you meant). A member in the group, Thor, has lost his hammer so the group is going to find it. A player puts "Ettins" in play, upping the difficulty of retrieving the hammer but at the same time upping the reward (and possibly netting himself some free energy). Another player puts "Midgard Serpent" into play, making it even harder to overcome but increasing the potential reward as well. A third player thinks that is too much and bargains with the second player to reduce the influence of the monster (Jormungund goes from being a foe they might battle to a cat Thor has to lift).

Once the monsters and obstacles are overcome, the players reap the reward but if they put too many monsters and obstacles in play that they can't overcome them they then loose out (and ideally loose something "physical" as well, probably in the form of worshippers who now think their gods are pansies).

I can see this developing into a fun little bidding game... yeah, I think you just added a new mechanic to my game

-How does the game end exactly?  What's it like?
-What are the specific, possible outcomes for the characters and for the players?  What will the players and characters get out of the endgame you have created for your game?

The end is set at the beginning of the game; all the gods will die at the Twilight of the Gods (aka, Ragnarok in Norse mythology). Each player decides how they want their god to die (death via giant serpent, death by children revolting and cutting you to pieces, etc). They also negotiate with the GM and each other to define the various steps that are needed before that Fate can be fulfilled (obviously, the giant serpent would have to exist in the first case, the character would need to sire children in the second). These steps don't have to be directly related to the death, just things that are fates to happen before the god dies (the first one might need to find a hammer to use in the battle with this giant serpent and he might need to be married to the goddess Sif). The GM tries to turn circumstances to satisfy this predetermined fate ("in order to appease your anger Loki gives you a mighty hammer, majolnir" "Loki just sired a vile spirit that took the form of a giant serpent" "You've been smitten by the goddess Sif who is eyeing you for her husband" etc).

This just provides a general storyline for players to follow; the Twilight of the Gods could happen in a single playing session or it could take years of playing time to get there, depending on the players themselves. I imagine that the end game would usually be a fairly short but intense "battle royal" (it doesn't have to be a battle, mind, depending on how these gods are dying). While the players have been increasing their character's power, they have also been increasing the GM's power (satisfying part of their fate increases a god's power, but it also increases the power of fate, aka the GM). As such, it is a chance for both sides to take off the gloves and throw everything they have into the fight.

Alternately, players can choose to try to resist their fate and actually survive the Twilight. In such an instance, they still "loose control" over their characters as the game is over (but those gods survived into the new world and are free from fate).

What players and the GM get out of the endgame is (ideally) the feeling of a job well done. Their gods might have been fated to die but they marched to their death with their heads held high and put up a good fight! Conversely, if they make it through the Twilight they can overcame that which was fated to be (they've done the impossible).

As a "physical" product, the group now has a complete shared mythology. They break out the DnD or whatever and can play clerics that are worshiping their old characters. Not only that, they are playing in a world that their god-characters created with heroes and magic items that their god-characters took an interest in. The endgame in Twilight isn't just an end of one game but the beginning of other games.

There is also a certain satisfaction one gets from completing something. So hopefully players and the GM would get the same sort of satisfaction an author might get from completing a book, an artist from completing a painting, etc.

-What drive the players towards the plot points?  Is it all GM direction?
-It doesn't seem like there is much incentive to embrace one's fate.  Is there any?  Have you considered how to make that a more attractive choice?

Plot points can be varied mass of things but as they are negotiated between the players and the GM, hopefully the player will inherently have an interest in them. These plot points can be simple desires (the god wants to have a child), they can be ego strokes (the god is hailed as being better than similar gods from other pantheons), they can be things that the character is afraid of (loosing a magical sword) and would actually want to reject, etc. These plot points aren't just events that will happen but motivating desires.

Additionally, these plot points also provide the primary means in which gods increase in power (thus embracing one's fate satisfies a person's gamist cravings, to use a term that I've never been sure I actually understand) while propelling the plot forward (providing for the narrativist in all of us). Breaking fate, on the other hand, provides a player with an increase in narrative power but limits (and possibly decreases) the character's gamist power.

As such, sometimes the players will be actively trying to work towards some plot points because they are related to their god's interests, at other times the GM is almost tricking the characters into satisfying fate (and stumping them as they try to break it).

-Who sets the amounts of energy needed to overcome an obstacle?

Previously, I would have said the GM alone. However, given your wonderful idea of players purchasing obstacles, I am now envisioning a bit of a bidding war for this as well.
GM: "Atop this mountain rest the hammer that you seek. Energy needed 10.
Player1: "Undaunted, Bobtar begins to climb this really huge mountain. Energy needed 15, and I get a little bonus if I succeed."
Player2: "Ah, but this is the dreaded Vintermunt. Its slopes are so cold as to freeze the skin off ice. Energy needed 20, and I get a bonus."
Player3: "And as we all know, the rocks of Vintermunt are like the blades of an axe. Energy needed 25, and I get a nice bonus."
Player1: "Dude, Bobtar doesn't have the power for that; if he fails we get nuttin."
Player 3: "True, make that 22 energy and I'll just take a normal bonus."
Player1: "Still doubt I can make it, not with the way my luck has been running tonight. The swart-elves live in this mountain and know of a secret passage inside it. You need to have you character go talk to them and bargain us passage. Energy needed 15, and I get a cool bonus for cleverly overcoming the excessively impossible obstacles."

-What happens to the followers when a god uses them to buy traits and artifice?

They are still there; followers are more of a tapped resource than a burned resource. Say my god gains 100 more followers and uses those to improve his might. Those 100 followers are still there, but they can't be used to "buy" anything else. If he looses 1, unfortunately, he looses that improvement to his might (until he gets the follower back). If all the gods abilities adds up to 1000 followers, and the god has 1025 followers, that means he has 25 followers he can invest in something else. This does mean that players need to mark which traits were purchased when and in what order (first in first out, when followers are lost).

-What happens when the communal pool is empty?  Does it ever get empty?

The communal pool of followers? Never gets empty because it is never used. If that pantheon has 10,000 followers, every god in that pantheon gets 10,000 followers to use to buy traits (thus, the same singular follower might be giving Thor increased might and Odin increased wisdom), and the followers as a group get 10,000 "points" to use to improve themselves. Thus, if a player wants more followers they need to make things harder on themselves (and their friends), but not too hard or else they get jack and squat (and maybe less).

I have been toying with the idea of modifying this through the use of "mystery cults" that would give only one god more followers, rather than the pantheon in general, but I think I'll need to develop the entire worshiper section of the mechanics a lot more before I know for sure.

Again, thanks for the interest and I hope I answered your questions. If not, or if you want more info, please feel free to let me know.

~Joel

[Troy_Costisick]

Heya Joel,

I've been thinking more about your game, and I have a few ideas.  But before I suggest them, let me ask you another question.  Your purpose for play in this game, is it more for telling a story about the gods or is it more for seeing if you can survive the Appocalypse?  Which of those two things is more important to you both as a designer and as a player?

Peace,

-Troy

[J Tolson]

The primary purpose of the game is to tell a story. Well... really a series of stories, but more in the manner in which chapters of a book are several stories than books in a trilogy are a series of stories.

"Fate," the apocalypse, etc, is primarily a way to help direct players into actually telling a story. It sets up the basic story structure beginning, middle, and end) and provides a mechanism for them interject themes and plotlines. To expand the subject of your question a little, the purpose of my conflict resolution system is also to stress important story related actions ("unimportant actions" such as if a god trips, fails a will save, etc, are generally ignored because the only time Frodo, Luke Skywalker, or Ender Wiggins ever tripped was when it was important to the story).

Thanks for thinking about my game some more and I look forward to your ideas.

~Joel

[Troy_Costisick]

The primary purpose of the game is to tell a story. Well... really a series of stories, but more in the manner in which chapters of a book are several stories than books in a trilogy are a series of stories.

"Fate," the apocalypse, etc, is primarily a way to help direct players into actually telling a story. It sets up the basic story structure beginning, middle, and end) and provides a mechanism for them interject themes and plotlines. To expand the subject of your question a little, the purpose of my conflict resolution system is also to stress important story related actions ("unimportant actions" such as if a god trips, fails a will save, etc, are generally ignored because the only time Frodo, Luke Skywalker, or Ender Wiggins ever tripped was when it was important to the story).

-That's awesome.  And, honestly, I think you have a very very solid start here.  One more thing I'd like to see, if you have time, is an example of play that uses the resolution system.  It can be contrived, I don't care.  Make up everything if you have to.  I'd just like to see how the resolution interacts with the players and the characters. 

Peace,

-Troy

[J Tolson]

Sorry it took so long to address your request; unfortunately all my old playtests of the resolution system are outdated now, thus I put together a hypothetical situation. It displays the resolution systems from a few different perspectives. Hopefully it is what you were looking for; if not, let me know.

~Joel

***
Example 1: Unimportant Actions

Jean (GM): You are on your way to Jotunheim, to the halls of the giant-king, Utgarth, to stand as guests of honor on behalf of all the Aesir per his invitation.

Thurgood (Player1/Thor): Man, that sounds boring. Can't we smash some Troll skulls along the way, to liven things up a bit?

Jean: Um, sure. Why do you want to do this?

Thurgood: It just sounds fun.

Locke (Player2/Loki): Meh, why not. We always have time for some smashy-smashy.

Jean: So you have no invested interest in this? Alright, that really isn't an "important action" but if you guys want to act it out...; Upon the road it seems as if the very earth moves as three creatures rise from the rocks, tall as oaks but bent double so that their chins rest upon their knees. Grass grows atop their heads, shrubs out of their ears, and the begin lumbering towards you, unthinking malice turning their slate-eyes red.

Thurgood: Thor the Defender raises might Mjolnir over his head and cries out "Be gone ill wights, or face mjolnir's might! I will smash you to Hel's Halls, and even Nagrind beneath!"

Jean: They do not heed you but lash out with their mud covers hands, hitting you across the head.

Locke: While Mr. T there is spouting fancy words, Loki the trickster sneaks behind them and hits the middle one with a stick, placing it in the hands of the back one before disappearing again.

Jean: The troll rubs its head and turns. Seeing its friend with the object that attacked it, it hits him across the face and they begin to brawl.

Thurgood: Thor is unhurt by the blow, for he is hail and hearty, but still he takes a step back before letting his hammer fly. It speeds through the air, crackling with power, and takes the head of the Troll clean off.

Jean: How can a hammer take anything CLEAN off?

Thurgood: Well, the head is gone at least.

Jean: And troll brains are splattered everywhere.

Locke: The middle troll notices that his friend has just had his head hammered off. Leaving the limp body of the other troll, which he had strangled to death, behind, he begins to advance on Thor.

Thurgood: "Mjolnir, return to my hand!" The hammer flys back.

Locke: Meanwhile I tie the trolls shoe laces together and he trips and falls on his own sword.

Jean: Triumphant, you continue towards the halls of Utgarth. Unless there are any objections, you reach there without further incident.

Locke: Sounds good to me:

Thurgood: *nods*

Example 2: Low Importance

Jean: Utgarth welcomes you; "Greetings noble Aesir! Greetings Thor the Defender, destroyer of Giants! Greetings Loki the Trickster, sayer of half-truths and plunderer of fortune!

Thurgood: Hey, don't forget about my servant, Thjalfi! He is here too, remember?

Jean: "And welcome young one. You are Thjalfi, Thrall Mitman's son, brother to Maiden Roskva, are you not? Be well welcomed, mortal man, to the halls of Utgarth!"

Locke: Jeeze, why'd you have to bring him along?

Thurgood: Hey, you could have had a cool hero artifice too, but you choose to break your Link of Fate instead.

Jean: Anywho, you follow the king into his hall where a splendid feast has been prepared, with lamb, pork, orangutan's, fruit bats, sloths, breakfast cereals-

Locke: yeah yeah

Jean: As you are eating, Utgarth comments "Why Loki, you but touch your food! Should I be offended, for I have heard that your appetite is unparalleled?"

Locke: "You have heard well, Utgarth King, but look - I have eaten more than any of your men in the hall!"

Jean: "They do not wish to offend a guest who eats as if sick. But as you say you are as I have heard, perhaps you will show us by means of a challenge? Let not the table-peace be broken, but perhaps you will agree to an eating contest with the least of my servants, Logi here."

Locke: I take a look at the scrawny boy and agree.

Thurgood: Is this really important?

Locke: Of course it is! He has challenged my pride as the god of jerks!

Jean: Two plates are brought out-

Thurgood: You mean troughs; makes things a bit more interesting and we'll get a better reward

Jean: Right, two troughs are brought out, each heavy with food, and Loki and Logi take their places at each of them.

Locke: Ha, this should be easy. I will put a little effort into the action. *moves some energy from his energy pool to the table and places it under a cup so no one can see it*

Jean: Perhaps it will be easy, but for who? *moves some energy from Logi's energy pool to the table and hides the amount under a cup*

Locke: I get energy from my skills *adds more energy to his pool on the table*

Jean: So does Logi *does the same*

Locke: AND luck is on my side *rolls two d10 and adds up the total; +5. He then places that many energy into his pool on the table*

Jean: Probably more than Logi *rolls two d10, adds up the total, -1, and has to remove some energy from his pool*

Locke: *reveals his energy total* HA! I'd say Loki probably finishes first!

Jean: Utgarth sees Loki looking triumphant but says "You did indeed finish first, but you left so much behind!"

Locke: I only left bones!

Jean: True enough, but Logi ate the bones, the plates, and the trough! *reveals his energy total*

Example 3: Greater Importance
*Much later*

Jean: "I have heard it said that Thor is mightiest among the gods, mightiest among all things that live in the branches of gleaming Yggdrasil."

Thurgood: "You have heard truly, Utgarth King."

Jean: "I had also heard that Loki was the most ravenous hall-guest, yet he was beaten by the smallest boy in my service. How can I know these tales to be true?"

Thurgood: "A test in turn, to restore honor to Aesir kind. Pick the best of your hall, those bench brothers who sit at your side, who you deem best able to match the might that causes even the world serpent to quake!"

Locke: Let's spice things up. Utgarth brings forth the manifestation of Old Age.

Thurgood: Cricky! How do you think I can overcome that?

Locke: Loki says "what is the matter, son of Odin? Fear thou a test of might? Womanly ways these are, I deem them."

Thurgood: So that is how you want to play? Thor responds "Recall I can a time when Loki went forth, to the halls of a giant, and served nine seasons as a milking maid. Womanly ways these are, deem I them."

Jean: So apparently you are going to face Old Age?

Thurgood: Yup

Jean: And this is important because your honor, and the honor of your pantheon, is on the line?

Thurgood: Yup.

Jean: Alright... but Utgarth calls forth an old crone and says "Truly, Thor of the Aesir, I do not wish to hurt you. Wrestle you this crone, who nursed me on my mother's knee. Canst thou best her, thunderer?"

Thurgood: Hey, what's up! "You do insult me, Utgarth King! Find a better opponent for I would not harm one with a foot in the grave."

Jean: "Best her first, to put my men's misgivings aside, then better grapple-friend will I give you."

Thurgood: Whatever. *Places effort, skill, and luck energies on the table, Jean does the same for the crone; they both reveal their amounts and Thor looses*

Thurgood: What?! Impossible!

Jean: The crone forces you back and you stumble.

Thurgood: realizing I underestimated the Crone, I really try now *repeats the process again, this time putting all of his potential energy into it; he still looses, but just barely*

Jean: The old crone forces you to your knees, but she cannot topple you. Long you are locked as such, till Utgarth calls it a tie.

Locke: The Old Crone was really Old Age, wasn't she?

Jean: Of course. But your characters don't know that, at least not yet.